The International
Space Station’s third resident crew officially took control of the complex
at 2:15 p.m. CDT today, when confirmation was given by the new station
commander that all transfer activities associated with the custom-made
Soyuz capsule seat liners had been completed and leak checks on their
Russian Sokol space suits was verified.

That marked the
end of the Expedition Two crew’s stay on the station at 148 days since
it took over for the first resident crew on March 18. By the time the
Expedition Two crew lands aboard Discovery next week, Yury Usachev,
Jim Voss and Susan Helms will have spent 163 days aboard the station
and 167 days in space.

The official ceremonial
handover of command of the ISS from Usachev to Culbertson will take
place Aug. 20, shortly before Discovery undocks from the Station.

The systematic
swap of the seat liners and space suits occurred in and around the installation
of the Leonardo Multipurpose Pressurized Logistics Module onto the station.
Leonardo is one of three cargo supply vessels designed to deliver food,
clothing, experiments and other hardware to and from the station throughout
its orbital life. It was attached to the station at 10:55 a.m. CDT and
its hatch opened at 2:47 p.m. CDT.

Now that the official
crew transfer is complete, the Expedition Three crew of Culbertson,
Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin will begin
a comprehensive handover with their departing counterparts, receiving
briefings on station systems, the current configuration of hardware
and computers and procedures they will employ during their first days
on board the outpost.

The crew will
be awakened at 4:10 a.m. CDT Tuesday to continue the unloading of more
than three tons of supplies and experiments from Leonardo. At 2 p.m.
CDT Tuesday, the two station commanders, Culbertson and Usachev, will
take part in an interview from space with television networks. The interview
will air live on NASA TV.

The joined spacecraft
are orbiting at an average altitude of about 244 statute miles, completing
an orbit of the Earth every 90 minutes. The next status report will
be issued about 6 a.m. Tuesday, or earlier, as events warrant.

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